A healthcare worker receives a dose of Covishield, a COVID-19 vaccine manufactured by Serum Institute of India, at a government-run hospital at Baruipur on the outskirts of Kolkata. (Image: Reuters)

A total of 16,13,667 beneficiaries have so far been vaccinated for COVID-19 through 28,613 sessions held till the evening of January 24, the ninth day of the immunisation drive, according to a provisional report of the Union Health Ministry.

On January 24, 31,466 beneficiaries were vaccinated till 7.30 pm in five states -- Haryana (907), Karnataka (2,472), Punjab (1,007), Rajasthan (24,586), and Tamil Nadu (2,494) -- through 693 vaccination sessions, the ministry said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the vaccination drive with healthcare workers at the frontline of India's COVID-19 battle getting their first jabs on January 16.

India’s drug regulator has approved two vaccines - Covaxin developed by Bharat Biotech and Covishield from the Oxford/AstraZeneca stable being manufactured by the Serum Institute of India (SII) -- for emergency use in the country.

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COVID-19 Vaccine

Frequently Asked Questions

How does a vaccine work?

A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine.

How many types of vaccines are there?

There are broadly four types of vaccine — one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine.

What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind?

Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time.

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> Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said on January 24 that the state has emerged as a leading state in the vaccination drive with 1.5 lakh total vaccinated beneficiaries and 3452.81 vaccinations per million populace". With all necessary arrangements made in time, the state government has managed the vaccination process efficiently so far, Patnaik said.

> At least99,242 health workers have been administered the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine in Maharashtra since the drive was launched, said Pradeep Vyas, principal secretary, state health department, adding the state will conduct the exercise on five days per week beginning January 25 to cover more beneficiaries quickly.

> Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has compared the COVID-19 vaccines given by India to Brazil to 'Sanjeevani Booti', a mythological life-saving herb figuring in the Hindu epic Ramayana. Yogi made the comparison a day after Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro invoked Lord Hanuman while thanking Prime Minister Narendra Modi for providing two million doses of COVID-19 vaccines to fight the deadly coronavirus infection in his country, one of the worst-hit nations by the pandemic.

Here is the state-wise vaccination:

States	Total Beneficiaries
A & N Islands	1,998
Andhra Pradesh	1,47,030
Bihar	76,125
Chhattisgarh	28,732
Karnataka	1,91,443
Kerala	53,529
Madhya Pradesh	38,278
Tamil Nadu	61,720
Telangana	1,10,031
West Bengal	84,505
Chandigarh	1,502
Odisha	1,52,371
Punjab	31,326
Haryana	72,204

(With inputs from PTI)

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COVID-19 Vaccine Tracker News: 31,466 beneficiaries receive coronavirus vaccine in India on January 24

More than 16 lakh people have so far been vaccinated for COVID-19 in India. Of these, over 31,000 people received the vaccine on January 24.

A healthcare worker receives a dose of Covishield, a COVID-19 vaccine manufactured by Serum Institute of India, at a government-run hospital at Baruipur on the outskirts of Kolkata. (Image: Reuters)

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